WIPpet Wednesday: He Dies

Mini UpdateI seriously love the WIPpeteers as people, as an activity, and as a group to be a part of. But, you guys see it… I’m just horrible at doing it. I just get overwhelmed and when I start to prioritize… I feel horrible saying this, but writing and getting exercise are higher on the list. And that’s what happened. I got a bit overwhelmed while writing ALCHEMY’s first draft and this went poof. Anyways, I felt my last WIPpet was kind of sad. So, I decided I owed you guys another good one before I go hide (as I’m back in edits land).

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What’s WIPpet Wednesday?
Wednesday is for the day of the week I (and others) share a WIPpet. The word WIPpet is the joining of the word snippet with the acronym WIP, which stands for Work In Progress. Using the date to conjure up a math formula, WIPpeteers (the group of people that share WIPpets) figure out how much to share.

My WIPpet Math
The date is 4/15. 4 + 15 = 19 Paragraphs

What’s My WIPpet?
This is from ALCHEMY, my cozy mystery fantasy. And it needs some set up. Ana (the narrator) is seeing a first time client. She knows this man (Lord Jax Middleford), but this man doesn’t realize he knows her. In fact, this man is engaged to her childhood best friend (Bek). And this is the start of the interaction that eventually gets Ana accused of murder… His murder.

This Week’s WIPpetI probably would have protested if I hadn’t found Jax Middleford starting to go through all my bottles.

“These aren’t labeled,” he said.

“Of course not,” I said. “People don’t like bottles listing their problems or inadequacies. They like plain or pretty things that only they know the root of.”

He nodded, looking impressed. “Shrewd.”

My second master had taught me that one. He had been far busier than my first master, and I think that was a great reason for it.

“So, please, if you could, step away from that?” I asked politely as possible.

Knowing he couldn’t help himself, he gave into my request and we switched places. I stood between the counters and all the bottles. He stood by the door.

“What should I find or fix for you?” I asked.

“I heard there’s a potion to stop a woman from being pregnant. Is it real?” he asked.

My eyes grew wide. What had he done? Or was he planning to do something? He was planning to do something. Was it Bek? I was a hair from going into a rage.

I took a deep breath. Rational thought fought through. Maybe it wasn’t for him. Maybe it was for a servant?

So, I whispered my answer. “Yes.”

“That’s what I want, then.” He held out his hand to me.

“Is it… I mean, you are engaged. It should not matter,” I said. My fingers curled around the acid pot. I would hurt him a thousand times if he intended to hurt Bek.

Jax rolled his eyes at me and shook his head. “Not her. Like you said, there it would not matter.” The fingers of his outstretched hand wiggled at, commanded me.

“Who?” I asked.

“It is not your place,” he informed me with his brow furrowing in fury.

It was so my place. Only I couldn’t tell him that. Nor could I pull rank. It would all expose me.

“I’m leaving in the morning. I won’t tell,” I assured him. “But ingested potions rely on body type.” That was mostly true.

Want to give it a go or read the WIPpeteers’ works?KL Schwengel runs the show.
Find the linkie on her page to read the WIPpets or join in.

Oh I like her clever little way of getting the info. at the end there. 🙂 And I think you’re totally justified in prioritizing what happens each week. I’m glad you pop in now and then to let us get peaks at your work. 🙂

Thank you. 🙂 Maintaining social media has always been a struggle for me. I do it best in spurts rather than continuously. Maybe one day I’ll figure the best way for me to do it all.

Ana is definitely pushing her luck in this encounter. Maybe when I go into rewrites I’ll come back with another peek. I’m not sure yet. There’s a whole subplot I am going to add, so it will be new words. And that won’t be spoilering the murder mystery side either. We’ll see, because I love you guys. I hate staying away!

I can understand needing to prioritize. I’m good at updating WIPpets (mostly because it keeps me accountable to actually writing the WIP), but I’m bad at keeping up with other forms of social media. Sigh.

Love the snippet! I wonder what she would be giving away if she told him why she’s allowed to know who the potion is for. And I wonder who it’s for!

Other social media is easy for me, because I’m all “Look at this picture of my pet!!!” (With two dogs, three fish, one guinea pig, and one hamster there’s always a pic.) Plus, when I’m procrastinating social media’s the first place I go for distraction/mindless clicking. As for accountability, I use ROW80 for that.

WIPpet is more about seeing how others use words and what is bubbling in other’s minds. More of a glimpse into processes and inner workings. It’s a reminder I’m not so alone and that people struggle or get excited or aren’t sure about their work. There’s a rawer and more creative bent to it than with ROW80.

I’ll tell you this as for who the potion is for… Lord Jax Middleford’s (real) mother and the girl in question have the same occupation.

Part of me wonders if he’d lived (and someone else was my Mr. Body for this tale) how the story would have gone. They have history, but they both care about a common person. It’s an interesting thought. Though, I think it’s good he dies. 😉

I only have one problem with this excerpt: I want more! Hoping you’ll share more from this story in the weeks ahead. And I love the idea of a cozy mystery fantasy. Sounds like the perfect book to curl up with on a cold, windy night, preferably with a cup of Earl Grey.

That’s a great problem to have! Thank you for the compliment. 🙂 I do hope to share more with everyone in the future. Just not sure when exactly when that will be, though.

I’m sure there have to be other books out there with this idea. However, in order not to taint myself, I have yet to read any. When I get back to it for draft 2, I’ll be reading cozy mysteries, historical romance, and fantasy novels to get my brain in the right place for it all.

Popping in and out is what WIPpeteers are all about. (Not an intentional rhyme there, but it works.) We love having you when you have the time, and miss you when you don’t, but there’s no obligation involved.

Unlike poor Ana. She seems to have found herself in quite a situation here. I like the buildup and then the last line… definitely want to see more of this.

I’m going to try and figure out a good way to balance my involvement. Just, right now, I’m still trying to adjust to other stuff/changes, so I can’t figure that out just yet. But, I love you guys too. This is a great group you gathered together. 🙂

It is definitely an awkward position and an emotional one. This is the guy her bestie is going to marry! The inner turmoil is only starting to brew as this situation unfolds.

You might have guessed it, but I'm still going to tell you. My name is Gloria Weber and I'm a writer. I bring my geeky loves to the tales I write. I live in Ohio with my two kids, one husband, and many pets. Squee!